The Symbol of Sanctuary
by Wannabe Ginger
Summary: Lilith recently met a girl with a history of abuse. She pities her and teach her what symbol to draw to summon her. Cross-posted with AO3
1. Chapter 1

There was a forgotten room in the Spellman house. When Sabrina was little it was the nursery; the baby furniture had been sent with Leticia, so now the room was empty. Initially after Leticia left Zelda had tried to make it into a new study to keep herself busy. But instead she would now sit on the floor feeling sorry for herself. Zelda's felt like her life was falling apart. Nobody needed her. Sabrina was being an ornery teenager, Ambrose was no longer limited to the Spellman property, and Hilda had Dr Cerberus.

After the night Hilda had walked in on Zelda using the whip she had ordered Zelda to give it to her so that Zelda couldn't use it. But the redhead had her ways around her sister's demand. Hilda had assumed that after the death of Constance her sister hadn't been with their High Priest. Sometimes Zelda would go to the Academy to see Faustus just to feel leather strike her skin. He didn't know she was using him to hurt her, yet Zelda could have sworn he struck her harder with each visit. There was hardly a night they hadn't been together. It wasn't always for sex, though it usually was, sometimes it would be because Faustus had requested Zelda soothe Judas throughout the night. Even on the nights they went to bed he expected Zelda to tend to Judas each time he cried.

She had once been so strong, but now she was barely more than a nursemaid. But it made her feel needed, so she did as Faustus requested. She would never admit it, but how he treated her made her question everything she thought she knew about herself. Had she ever been the strong leader she thought she was?

...

Zelda knocked on Ms. Wardwell's office door.

"Come in." Zelda opened the door and saw the new principal wearing a sleeveless green dress sitting with her feet on the desk, fanning herself with a file folder. As the witch stepped inside she noticed discarded layers on the floor.

"You know there's snow on the ground outside."

As the redhead moved into the room Lilith gracefully moved her feet from the desk and placed them on the floor. "Yes... well, it appears that the furnace is broken, and this office has a very direct connection to the boiler room. Have a seat."

Zelda sat across from the woman and noticed a few beads of sweat lining the principal's hairline. "A simple spell could make it more comfortable in here."

"I don't mind the heat so much. Plus the secretary put in a work order before I could use magic, and I'd rather not try to explain how my office is fine while others aren't."

"Ms. Wardwell, you wanted to talk about Sabrina?" Zelda took off her sweater and placed it on top of her coat in the unoccupied chair to her right, revealing a beautiful, yet simple, black dress with a black lace illusion neckline.

…

The women talked about Sabrina's dual school schedules and the possibility of Sabrina taking time off from Baxter High. They discussed the many different ways Sabrina could attend both schools, but agreed that Sabrina must make the final decision for herself. Zelda grabbed her things and walked towards the door. Lilith noticed a scattering of marks disrupting the pattern of lace covering the redhead's shoulders.

"Ms. Spellman… are you okay?"

"Of course I am! What would make you think otherwise?" Zelda remained facing the exit as she turned the doorknob.

"You have a few red welts on your back."

Zelda released the doorknob and whipped her head to face the teacher. "You haven't seen anything Ms. Wardwell," she commanded in a quiet, yet strong voice. The demoness noticed a small flicker of despair in her eyes.

Usually if anyone, except the Dark Lord, dared to speak to Lilith in that tone it was the last thing the person ever said. But something about the witch calmed her, rather than enraging her. "As you wish. But if I had seen something it was a wound on the verge of infection… I can take care of it if you'd like."

Lilith stood up as Zelda walked back to the chair. Zelda reached behind her neck, unbuttoned the top of her dress and carefully slipped the fabric off of her back. Lilith swept the red hair off to the side and lightly placed her hands on the woman's back. Zelda felt the magic radiating on her back. She wouldn't have guessed it by looking at Ms. Wardwell but her magic was very strong, in fact it was the strongest magic she had ever felt.

"Shit."

"What is it? What's wrong?" Zelda turned her head attempting to see what Lilith was talking about.

"Most of the wounds have healed, but the one I was most concerned about won't heal. I was able to remove the impending infection, but it's still a deep gash. Ms. Spellman… Zelda, please, tell me how this happened." Zelda opened her mouth and closed it tight. Lilith wasn't going to let her leave without an answer "Did you do this or did someone else?"

Zelda couldn't bring herself to lie to the woman. "Some were me, some weren't."

Lilith walked around the chair and knelt in front of Zelda, grabbing her hands. "Did a man do this to you? Did Father Blackwood do this to you?" The look in Zelda's eyes said more than words ever could. "Why did you let him do this?"

Zelda suddenly found her voice, "Because he cares about me."

"If he truly cared about you he wouldn't do this to you."

"And how would you know that?" Zelda hissed.

"Because I have been in your shoes." Zelda's face softened and Lilith felt something for the redhead she had never felt before. "But this isn't about me. I need you to tell me that you won't see him until this gash has healed."

"He's my High Priest, I can't just stop seeing him! I'm finally moving up within my coven. If I stop seeing him all the work I've done will have been for nothing!" Zelda ripped her hands out of Lilith's and redressed herself.

Lilith turned towards her desk and scribbled on a notepad. She tore the page off and handed it to Zelda. "If he does this to you again I want you to draw this. I will come and heal your back… I want you to be safe." Lilith couldn't stop the words from coming out of her mouth, she hated how mortal they sounded.

Zelda grabbed her coat and walked to the door. "You're just my niece's principal, why do you care about me so much?"

"Honestly, I don't know."


	2. Chapter 2

It had been weeks since Zelda had met with Ms. Wardwell she had done her best to avoid her. Mary would occasionally pop in to visit with Sabrina, and as soon as she stepped foot on the Spellman property Zelda would retreat to the forgotten room until the witch left. People didn't know things about Zelda Spellman unless she wanted them to, but now a woman she hardly knew knew one of her biggest secrets.

The remaining wound on her back had become a red scar, but she was still keeping her distance from Faustus. When he would summon her she spent most of her time with Judas. Zelda was ashamed of the fact that she had tampered with his schedule so the babe would cry around the time Faustus wanted to lead her to his bed. However, she knew his patience was wearing thin and that soon he wouldn't care if his son was crying.

Zelda was sitting and cooing at Judas when the sound of nails tapping on wood cut through the silence. She didn't lift her gaze, assuming it was Faustus waiting for her to acknowledge him. But when she realized she smelled a feminine perfume that was definitely not attached to the High Priest she looked at the figure.

"Ms. Wardwell, what brings you to the academy?" Lilith gave Zelda a puzzled look.

"You summoned me…?"

"I most certainly did not." Zelda looked appalled, but Lilith just let out a quiet chuckle. She delighted in knowing she could ruffle the feathers of the usually composed Spellman.

"Let me guess. You were tracing along the baby's back to calm him."

"Yes, but why does that matter."

"You were drawing the symbol I gave you." Zelda looked mortified, this amused Lilith. "It's nothing to get worked up about. I haven't seen you in a while, is everything okay?"

Zelda composed herself "If you mean my back, yes, it's nothing more than a mark now."

"I'm glad to hear it. Are there new marks I should tend to?"

This woman was really getting on Zelda's last nerve. Why couldn't she just end the conversation and leave? "No, there aren't. Now if you don't mind I was about to put Judas down." She stood up and walked over to his bassinet. Lilith noticed an almost unnoticeable hesitation as the redhead set him down. Zelda slowly turned around expecting to see the teacher smirking at her, but instead found herself alone.

…

Zelda returned home the next morning and walked into the kitchen to make herself some tea before getting a few hours of sleep. She jumped back a bit when she saw Hilda sitting at the table. She placed her hand over her heart and closed her eyes.

"Sweet Satan Hilda, what are you doing up?"

"Zelds, it's almost seven. Why are you just now getting home?" Zelda glanced at the clock on the wall. She could have sworn Faustus had let her leave his bed at four. There was no way her walk home had taken her three hours.

While she could've easily returned home with a wave of her hand she had wanted to clear her head. She had walked past a cottage she had never noticed before. As she got closer she had felt strong magic seeping out of the house, knowing she had felt a similar magic Zelda crept closer until she could see through the window.

Mary Wardwell was facing her fireplace, pouring the contents of a now empty whiskey bottle into her glass. Zelda watched as Mary sipped her drink. She hadn't been standing there for very long when she saw the witch stiffen. If Zelda had blinked she would've missed Mary throw her glass at the wall. Whiskey dripped down the wall as a blood-curdling scream ripped from the brunette's throat. The woman fell to the floor and Zelda backed away and hurried back to the path she should've been on the whole time.

"Faustus… Judas…" Zelda didn't finish her sentence as she grabbed the tea Hilda handed her. Hilda knew her older sister wasn't about to actually tell her why she was just getting home. Zelda took the cup and headed to bed, thinking about why the teacher could have possibly been so upset.

…

Lilith sat in front of the fire and nursed her drink. She couldn't stop thinking about seeing Zelda earlier. It was clear that Zelda had been avoiding her. Zelda had realized she wasn't alone in the room and tensed up. She must've assumed it was Faustus coming to take her to his bed. Lilith couldn't help but think of Satan and how he treated her. She got lost in her thoughts, mindlessly refilling her drink until the bottle was empty. Each memory was more unpleasant than the last, and suddenly the demoness couldn't handle any more memories. She pictured the Dark Lord standing in front of her, and threw her glass at him. She saw the glass pass through him and remembered he wasn't really there. A scream passed through her lips, and she could swear someone was watching her.


	3. Chapter 3

Faustus had gotten carried away with their flagellation, expanding his usual target of her shoulders to her entire torso. The first few hits were softer than usual, but after a couple minutes he had started hitting harder than he ever had before. Zelda had let out a cry, a little louder than she meant to. Faustus seemed to get pleasure from her cries, and began hitting her harder and faster. She bit her hand, trying to quiet herself. But even when she muffled herself he had found a rhythm he was unwilling to break.

…

Zelda left Faustus' and began walking home. She had barely made it halfway when her back was in so much pain that she needed to stop. The fabric of her dress was sticking to her wounds, and she could tell that they were still bleeding profusely. She fell to the ground, trying to keep herself composed, but once her palms hit the dirt the floodgates opened and she couldn't stop crying. It had to have been at least 200 years since she last cried because of physical pain. She couldn't stop hyperventilating. She needed help. She hesitated before she traced her finger through the dirt.

Lilith arrived with a smirk on her face. She had expected to find that Zelda had accidentally summoned her again. This was not what she was expecting. Lilith ran to Zelda's side and placed a hand on her back. Zelda's cries got louder. She looked down and with a flick of her wrist Lilith removed Zelda's dress, and left her sitting on the ground wearing her slip. Lilith took a deep breath when she saw how the deep gashes covered the skin she could see. But she couldn't take care of that problem until she got Zelda breathing again.

"Zelda, can you look at me? I need you to look at me." Zelda lifted her eyes to meet Lilith's gaze. She stopped crying almost immediately, gasping for air as her breathing returned to normal. "Are you ready?" Zelda nodded as Lilith took her hand. Lilith placed her free hand over each mark on Zelda's back. Each faded as she touched them, but none disappeared completely. Frankly Lilith was just glad that the bleeding had stopped. "These are all much worse than last time. What was different?"

Zelda looked at the ground again. "He was harsh… because I had been staying away. And when he realized how much it hurt me..." She couldn't finish her sentence. Against her character, Lilith wanted to cry with the witch. She saw the wet spots on the black slip, assuming that those wounds needed attention even more than the others.

"This is most effective if I am actually touching the wound. But I don't have to if that would make you uncomfortable for the ones under your slip." Zelda lifted her slip to allow access to her lower back. Lilith touched the marks with extreme care. She healed all of the wounds, and Zelda re-positioned her slip. Suddenly she was very aware of how exposed she was. The redhead stood up and waved her hand, redressing herself and removing the streaked makeup from her face.

Lilith stood up with her. "Would you like me to take you home?" Zelda nodded her head and in an instant they were on the Spellman porch.

Zelda opened the door and turned to face the teacher. "I would ask you in for tea, but I think I need to go to bed."

Lilith gave her a half smile. "Some other time then. See you soon, Zelda."

"Good night, Mary."

...

Lilith was too awake to go back to bed, so she sat in her living room and tried to work on paper work from Baxter High. Initially she had dreaded doing the mortal work, but she now loved having a distraction. Her mind kept wandering back to the Spellman matriarch. The way Zelda looked at her with intense anguish. Zelda was the last person Lilith expected to see be so unhinged, proving just how broken she truly was. It took extreme effort on her part to not go after Father Blackwood. How could he treat one of the most devout witches in his coven this way?

Before she knew it, it was time for Ms. Wardwell to go to Baxter High and pretend like she cared about being principal. As much as she liked watching the fear on the teenagers faces when she walked through the halls today she could only think of Zelda.

...

Zelda walked into the Mary Wardwell's office. It had been a few days since the incident in the woods, and she wanted to clear the air. She knocked on the door frame.

"Mrs. Meeks wasn't at her desk. Do you have a moment?"

Lilith gestured to the chair where she had first healed Zelda just weeks ago. Zelda closed the door behind her and walked towards the desk.

"Zelda, how are you feeling?"

"I'm doing better. I wanted to thank you for everything you've done for me recently. Even though I hate to admit it, I really needed someone who would take care of me."

"I just did what anyone who cares about you would do."

"I could never have asked Hilda to help the way you did. Especially the other night. If she had seen me that way… I wouldn't have been strong enough to see her reaction." Lilith reached her hand across the desk, and Zelda fit her hand within it. Lilith gave Zelda's hand a tight squeeze.

"If you ever need me I will be there. It doesn't need to be for something near as bad as that. If you get a paper cut and you want someone there I will be by your side before you can blink."

...

Zelda had stayed in Ms. Wardwell's office so long that the end of day bell had rung and everyone else had left the building. Zelda walked Lilith to Mary's car. Lilith started the car and lowered her window.

"Would you like to go get something to eat?"

Zelda nodded, "I'd love to."


End file.
